


Inkopolis Splataway School

by Piichy_San



Category: K-12 - Melanie Martinez (Album), Melanie Martinez (Musician), Splatoon
Genre: Fluff, Gay, Inspired by Melanie Martinez, Interracial Relationship, M/M, Melanie Martinez References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piichy_San/pseuds/Piichy_San
Summary: Take a seat and watch a small Octoling grow and learn more about his life through his school life. In this place, it'll be certain that Octavio will learn a thing or two with other students inside of this K-12 school. Perhaps even how to feel something other than nothing. But of course, why would we let anything bad happen to our students? Inkopolis Splataway School is the safest place in the county!
Relationships: Inkling(s)/Octoling(s) (Splatoon)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. A Letter From Our School District

**Inkopolis Square**  
 **August 19** **XX** **60**

To whom it may concern,

We are happy to inform you that your son/daughter **Octavio** **Oᓵℸ** **̣** **𝙹ꖎ** **╎リ⊣** will be attending our school! The first day of school will start on **Monday, September 5th,** **XX60** **.** Please make sure to have your uniforms ordered by then. The bus schedules should also be distributed by next week as well so keep an eye on your mailboxes. Supplies and other related items will be given by the teachers so please don't be alarmed if your child doesn't receive any lists before school starts.

We'd also like to give a big welcome to **Octavio** **Oᓵℸ** **̣** **𝙹ꖎ** **╎リ⊣** for being accepted into this school! Inkopolis Splataway School is welcoming to all and we can't wait to see your child express themselves creatively along with other minds alike. We just know that they'll like it here! If you have any concerns about your child paying attention in school, please don't worry, we make sure that every student is on track one way or another.

We also assure you that your child will get the best education in the county. And once again, we look forward to meeting Octavio.

  
We'll be waiting.  
Sincerely, Mr. Craig Cuttlefish


	2. Kindergarten

**Octavio**

"Wake up. You're going to be late.." A familiar voice whispers to me, interrupting my dream before I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock. Feeling numb as a rock, I stare up at my ceiling until I get tired of the ringing alarm, making it ascend off of my dresser and slam it against my wall. What? How was I able to break my alarm clock without making any contact with it? Well, you see, I have some type of supernatural powers. These powers were given to me ever since I was born and I guess I can pretty much do what I want with them. No one knows about these abilities other than my friend Maira, who also has the same abilities as me. She's the one that woke me up by sending me a telepathic message to my head. We don't really live together but we live in the same neighborhood. She lives three houses to the left of mine.

Maira and I have been friends since we were in diapers and now we're going to go to school together. I'm pretty glad that we are because she's the only one that actually understands me and the only one who shares the same types of powers as me. She's also a good mentor for me. She's taught me a lot about life but as we grow up together, she'll teach me even more. Despite us being little kids, we are way smarter than you think. Or at least, I think we are smarter than you think.

As I lay on my bed, I contemplate my life, wondering why me, out of all people got chosen to live here on this Earth. I may not show it but I wish I really could. Showing emotion is something I can't do for some odd reason. If I look back at my birth, I can see myself staring blankly at the doctor and they're looking back at me, probably waiting for me to cry. Oh to feel anything at this point.

"You're not out of bed yet? Get up! You have 20 minutes!" Maira sends me another telepathic message.

"I'm getting up, don't worry." I respond and do exactly that.

I stretch my body as it feels stiff. Us Inklings and Octolings don't really have bones but we can still feel pain in our bodies. The thing for me is that I feel pain in my body every time I wake up from bed. I've told my caretaker to get me a more comfortable mattress but she doesn't seem to care at all.

The good thing is that I'll be stepping into a world without her and into a world where.. You're supposed to exceed unrealistic expectations. A world where boys are to wear blue pants and girls, pink dresses. A world that'll probably make you more stressed out than the world you're in when you get back home. Actually, speaking of uniforms, I should probably change into my own.

Before I step into my closet, I go to feed my cute little Sea Angels that swim around in a bowl of cold water on top of a small table that's just for them. "Eat up you two." I start to place some Sea Butterflies inside of their bowl for them to feast on. These two Sea Angels were a gift from my Mother on my fourth birthday to teach me about responsibility and I still don't have a name for them. This was the last gift my mom gave me before she gave up on life.

When I make sure that my two pets are fed, I dash to the inside of my closet and immediately come back out with my uniform on my body. I- Don't really like how it feels on me. It feels as if my body can't breathe in the closure of this light blue uniform; It also feels itchy but I can probably change that.

"Hey, did I ever tell you about my dream from last night?" I ask Maira.

"No. What was it about?" Her voice echoes through my head as I head out into the bathroom to brush my teeth. The sweet scent from my bedroom changes to the smell of smoke from the cigarettes that my Mother smokes as I step into the hall. The majority of my house smells like smoke but I try my best to keep the disgusting smell by opening the windows.

"Well, I remember feeling actual emotions for once whilst I held hands with someone in a field with purple sages and red roses. That person seemed to stay with me throughout the entirety of my dream. I also remember hearing a female voice talking to me, saying something about my numbness blooming into a beautiful, emotion-filled rainbow."

"That's actually pretty cool! Do you think that dream will come true? It sounds like a sign."

"I doubt it." I spit the foamy toothpaste into the sink and rinse out my mouth. "Can you imagine me with emotions? It'd be like seeing cartoons come to life; It'll never happen."

"Don't bring yourself down, Octavio.. We are still really young and we have our whole lives ahead of us! There is still hope for you out there."

"I guess. I mean, when have you ever lied to me about something?" I fix my hair in front of the bathroom mirror and make sure that the tip of my big tentacle is curled up. After that, I walk over to the living room to get my backpack that has all of the notes from Mr. Cuttlefish.

"Exactly. I've never lied to you and never will. By the way, is your mom going to drop us off at school?"

"Uhhh." I look down at my caretaker who is unconscious on the living room carpet with a bottle of whiskey in her hands. "No. She's still sleeping and she doesn't like it when I wake her up." I lie to my own friend. I hate doing that but I don't want her to get involved. My caretaker or formally known as my Mother is somewhat of an al-co-holo-lic? I don't really know the word but she essentially drinks whatever is in that bottle to 'numb her pain'.

"Does that mean that we'll have to take the bus?" Maira lets out a groan.

"I guess so."

"Man, I was just about ready to head over to your place. That's fine. I just don't like the bus because I don't know how I'll do in such a loud and crowded vehicle.."

"You know that I'll be sitting with you the whole ride. I'll make sure that you are comfortable throughout it. I know that you don't do well in tight spaces." I start to prepare some cereal in a bowl with some telekinetic assistance.

"Thank the goddess. I'm glad to have you as a friend. You are so thoughtful."

"Of course I'm going to be nice to you. You're literally the only person like me. You are nothing like the other kids back in daycare: Rude, cold-hearted, snobbish."

"Yeah, you're right. Now eat up. The bus is going to be here in 10 minutes or so."

"Alright then. I'll see you at the bus stop." We both disconnect from each other's minds and continue to get ready for the first day of hell. The more I think about the place I'm about to drag myself into, the less I want to go. Something about this specific school doesn't sit right with me. The way the letters from Mr. Cuttlefish are worded makes it sound like we are being sent to a prison and he's doing a horrible job at hiding it. It all seems pretty sketchy to me. Like, what if he's planning on trapping us in the school? No one should feel like they're in danger on their first day of Kindergarten. But, I can't judge the school just by some letters that I've been getting. Maybe this place might be better than what I'm imagining.

I run out of the door when I hear my Mother wake up, not being able to finish my breakfast. I greet Maira and take a look at her pink dress. Now that looks like something that I'd be more comfortable with. But by the looks of it, the school might not approve of it. It's funny because they want us to express ourselves but I'll probably get in trouble for wearing something feminine.

You know, when I first saw the pink school bus with Maira at the bus stop, we thought that we'd have a nice ride to school but it's just as bad as daycare. It felt like we were witnessing a circus all over again. We have screaming kids standing up while the bus is in motion, the Bus Driver is smoking WHILE drinking and not to mention that he isn't wearing his seat belt at all. Maira and I let out a disappointed sigh and head to an empty seat to the right of two.. oddly behaving kids. I try not to pay too much attention to it. When I sit down with Maira, I give her the window seat as it's her favorite seat.

A few minutes into the bus ride, Maira already starts to feel a little sick. It's probably from the loud noises she has to hear since she's never gotten car sick before or ever in her life. "Here." I suddenly make some ear muffs appear "These should drown out the noise."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." She smiles weakly at me and immediately puts them on, looking a little better after having them on for a minute or so.

While my friend leans back against the leather seat with her eyes closed, I look around the bus to see if I can start up a conversation with anybody. Maybe I could make a new friend on my first day here though, by the looks of it, the other students aren't interested in me or they start talking about me while they look in my direction. I tried saying hello to a really pretty, yellow-haired Inkling but she ended up laughing at me softly to her friends. After that, a sanitized Octoling from the back seats throws a crumpled up piece of paper at me, expecting me to have a reaction but I obviously don't. When this piece of paper got thrown at me, I see at most two concerned faces looking at me.

I blankly look down at the piece of paper and straighten it out, trying to identify what is written on it. I then remember that I can't read yet; Maira was the one that has been reading the letters for me since her caretakers actually care about her and they've taught her how to read and write at a young age.

I lightly tap Maira on the shoulder and hand her the paper "What does this say?"

Maira opens her eyes, removes her ear muffs, takes the piece of paper and reads it to me "Emotionless freak." She says and looks back from her seat "Real funny. How about you.. You.." Maira tries to come up with a comeback but fails.

"That's right, you have nothing to say, do you?" The sanitized male Octoling laughs at Maira while two female Inklings get up from their seats. One from the left and the other from the right. These are the two concerned faces I talked about.

"Hey! Leave them alone! You don't know what they have to go through!" The one with her hair brushed to the side says. This Inkling is on the left side of the bus.

"Yeah! And you think you're so much better just because you were saved from sanitation with your sister? You still have to live normal lives like the rest of us!" The shorter one with bangs on her forehead and long tentacles on the sides of her head shouts. This Inkling is on the right side of the bus.

"Who are you? Their mom? How about you give them a wittle milk bottle to pacify them? And it's not like he'll care if I make fun of him for being emotionless. He can't feel anything even if it were to make me stop talking." He says to the first girl "And you think you're so tough huh shorty? We've all seen you cry over the smallest things and we all know you can't do anything but flail your arms around for what you call 'self-defense.'" He snickers at both girls while they sink back into their seats. His eyes then land on me while I look at him "If I'm bothering you so much, why don't you cry about it?"

This remark makes the other students laugh. "Come on, show us your tears." "Yell at us since you're so angry." "I bet he's doing it for attention." They all say to me. I face forward again and look down at the ground. Maira holds my hand to comfort me.

"Don't listen to them. They're just.. Plastic assholes." She tells me. I've never heard Maira use such a word like that before.

I try to do as Maira says by going through my bag to find that paper with the bus stops on it, wondering how much more of this bullying I have to deal with. While examining the paper, it turns out that Maira and I are the last stop. That's great, I won't have to deal with this for much long- Wait, what's going on? I raise an eyebrow and watch the sheet of paper suddenly go all fuzzy for a bit. I rub my eyes to see if what I'm seeing is real and sure enough, it is. It looks like the paper itself is adding another stop to the list. How will the Bus Driver even know about this change? Actually, now that I'm looking up in the front, I see that his paper has changed as well.

This change should've happened sooner because the last minute change made him almost miss the street, causing him to make a really sharp turn. Everyone yells and shouts as they hold on to their seats, trying to stay in their places without falling into the aisle.

When we reach the stop, the bus lets out a loud hiss and we all see a singular house by a small forest. I actually like this little stone cottage. It's something that I'd be willing to live in. Everyone takes a look outside of the windows on the right to take a look at this new student. I try my best to see with Maira but we are both pushed away from the windows by these.. these plastic buttholes..

When we all hear this new student board the bus, everyone gets back into their seats to get a better look at them. Some students peak their heads out into the aisle while others stand up slightly to see. When my eyes land on this new student, my hearts feel like they have suddenly fixed themselves and I finally got a reason to live! Oh I can't imagine the smile I had on my face when I first saw this boy... My world was filled with light when he glanced at me. It's as if the universe is trying to tell me that him and I should be friends forever.

"Go say hi to him!" Maira whispers and starts to push me off of my seat so that I can talk to him.

I stand up, feeling very tense and I try to find my words but all I can think of right now is him: The dark skinned boy with purple hair and his beautiful topknot hairdo. He looks so friendly.. He looks like he wants to be friends with me.. Is he the one for me? The one to help me escape this numb prison? I guess not because when I'm finally able to figure out what to say, I get interrupted by the pretty, yellow-haired Inkling's screaming, obviously catching the boy's attention. His smile seems to grow bigger when he sees her and he pushes me back onto my seat, sitting next to the other girl. When this happens, I immediately get back to feeling like my old self again: cold, dull and empty. 

"Maybe he isn't the one for me." I tell myself as I lean against Maira for comfort.

"If only he knew how horrible of a person she is along with the others, then maybe he'd like hang out with you instead." Maira huffs and crosses her arms.

"I don't really want to focus on it right now. Let's just stay quiet for the rest of the ride." I fiddle with my fingers to keep myself entertained. This little silent moment feels really nice but of course, it all has to turn into chaos so suddenly. Remember the drinking Bus Driver? Yeah, it turns out that he passed out due to the al-co-holo-lic drink that he was swallowing while driving and now we have no one operating the bus. The first person to notice this was a boy sitting in the front of the bus, behind the Bus Driver. The loud yell that he made alerted the other kids, making them all panic. Well, most of them.

"Uhm.. Octavio? Did the driver just pass out..?" Maira gets up from her seat to look at the Bus Driver in the front.

"Yep." I stand up with her to see "He's out cold." We then look at each other and nod in agreement to something. We sit back down and try to concentrate with our eyes closed, an eerie sound is heard inside of our heads when we open them. This indicates that our powers are ready to use. I try to focus on the passed out driver and get him off his seat, placing him on the floor. Before Maira is able to get to the front and take control of the bus, she is pushed away by the sanitized male Octoling and his sister.

"I'm going to drive the bus!" He shouts as he makes his way to the driver's seat.

Maira groans and suddenly makes the bus hit a speed bump that she made, making both of the snobby siblings fall flat on their stomachs. She giggles and continues to make her way to the front, sitting on the driver's seat and using her powers to control the gas pedal and steering wheel. Meanwhile, I point to the two little Octolings and make them ascend off of the floor by moving my finger upwards. I then direct them back to their seats with some more telekinesis. I also use this telekinetic power to keep the panicking students in their seats to make sure that they aren't standing up.

"Please don't fight the force that is keeping you in your seats." I instruct to the students while they all look at me, in an obedient type of way "Everything will be okay." I reassure them.

"And why should we listen to you?" The sanitized sister whines and suddenly shuts up. It looks like someone kind of glued her mouth shut. It wasn't me, keeping these kids down is hard enough for me already and it definitely wasn't Maira, she's too focused on keeping the bus from crashing. Now that makes me wonder, is there someone else with powers like mine? I sit back down and look out of the window. Maira is going a little too fast, don't you think? Especially since we are already approaching the school.

"Uh. We are going a little too fast, aren't we?" I tell Maira who seems to be going over the speed limit on purpose "You should slow down."

"Oh, we're not taking these kids to see their maker? My bad." Maira goes to hit the breaks but accidentally pushes down on the gas pedal even more, making us go at an alarmingly fast speed. The screaming from the students starts up again and Maira starts to panic, taking the key out of the ignition keyhole but that doesn't really make the bus stop immediately. She starts to cry and panic even more, getting off of the driver's seat to hug me tightly (Okay, so maybe Maira kind of loses control of herself when something doesn't go as planned). I guess this is how we're going to die huh. On the first day of Kindergarten.

I hug her back and we both just wait for it all to end.

While we stand on the aisle, we fall on our bottoms really hard as the bus comes to a full and sudden stop. We both look around in confusion and then in a blink of an eye, everything seems to have gone back to normal. Maira and I are back on our seats and.. I actually don't remember anything else.. Did anything bad even happen? All I recall is being harassed by my peers and seeing: The purple-haired Inkling.. The most beautiful squid I've seen. I should try to get closer to him. But he might not like me... Remember how he pushed me away from him? It made my hearts break all over again but that won't stop me from trying.

We all start to get off the bus with the other kids looking just as confused as Maira and I.

"Did you feel like you were scared a few seconds ago?" "Didn't the Bus Driver fall asleep or something?" "I think we were just seeing things." They all talk amongst themselves. It's as if the same event happened to the both of us but it didn't? I don't know how to describe it.

The talking and questioning is then killed by the pretty, yellow-haired Inkling girl's screaming as if she were frightened by something.

"MY HAIR!!!" She cries as she looks at herself with a mirror that she apparently always has with her all of the time to look at herself "It wasn't like this earlier!" The other students seem to be giggling at her unfortunate event. It looks like someone did it on purpose and honestly, she absolutely deserves it.

"It's okay, don't worry Tanya! Maybe we can head to the bathroom and-" A sweet looking, yellow-haired Inkling tries to fix Tanya's hair but is immediately smacked by her.

"What did we talk about? Don't touch me!" Tanya groans and storms inside the school with her friend, pushing others out of her way. "Mido! You're coming with me!" She then turns around and calls out for Mido. Whoever that is.

...

Oh.. That's the purple-haired Inkling with his glorious topknot. Mido.. What an amazing name for an amazing person.. "Mido..." I whisper and sigh as I watch him leave with Tanya and the other students. It's almost as if I'm full of life for a second whenever I say his name.

When all of the students walk into the school Maira and I are left outside with the creepy Bus Driver looking at us from the inside of his bus. He looks just as confused as us.

"You've really fallen hard for this boy, haven't you?" Maira plays with the big and pink tentacle I have on my head that I call hair "We should definitely take Mido from Tanya and show him that you're a better friend."

"Isn't that a little rude?"

"Not if you're dealing with a girl like Tanya! You have a lot to learn about playing dirty. Now come on, we don't want to be late for class." She holds my hand and rushes inside of the massive school building with me.

I guess this is finally it, my first day of Inkopolis Splataway School.


	3. First Grade

**Octavio**

"Another year in this place, huh." I say as I stand in front of the entrance of the school, looking up at this really big structure.

"I guess so.." Maira sighs "Let's just go inside. We're already late and you know how the teachers get when we're late." She grabs my hand and walks inside with me. The sounds of the big school bell and the crows suddenly changes to eerie wind. It almost sounds like it's crying against our ears. "It it just me or is this school obsessed with having angel statues?" Maira asks as we make our way to the first and second grade floor, looking at the scary statues from the bottom of the stairwell to the top of it.

"Agreed. It's almost like they're watching us. And not in a good way." I scratch my torso. What is this uniform made out of? Sandpaper?

"You two Octolings better hurry up to class. Your teacher is displeased with you being late." A voice from behind us says, giving Maira and I chills down our spines. This sudden remark makes my friend and I stand in place, obviously not following the voice's instructions. "I said.. **GET TO CLASS!!** " The female voice then shouts and starts to approach us from behind at a very quick pace; this makes Maira and I rush up the stairs and into our classroom.

Everyone's heads turn in a synchronized way as the door shuts behind us. Maira and I stare back at the students but who I really have my eyes on is Mido. My eyes landing on him still has the same magic from kindergarten. It feels so good to have my ability to feel again.

"Class!" The teacher steps right up to Maira and I "Would you like to tell Octavio and Maira of what rule they did not follow today?" The old-looking Inkling holds one end of her ruler with her left hand as she rests the other end on the palm of her right hand with an evil smile on her face.

"When the bell rings, you must be in your assigned seats." The class says, sounding bored of repeating this rule to students who are late to class.

"That's correct!" She looks at the students who are sitting down and then back to Maira and I with an angry frown. "Well, what are you, deaf? Sit your asses down!"

"Sorry Ms. Danila.." We both say as we head to our assigned seats. There are four big and rectangular tables that sit around 6 students per table. I take the empty seat that's on the corner of one of the tables. This corner seat is one of the many seats that meets in the middle of the class with corners of the other tables. I picked this seat for a reason and that reason is very obvious. I get to sit behind Mido! But I don't really get to face him.. It's alright though, me being able to feel his aura is good enough for me. Maybe I should ask him if he'd like to be friends during recess.. But the way I act is so strange when I'm around him and I don't like it sometimes.. It'll probably just make him think less of me.

While I get lost in my classwork, the loudspeaker beeps. This indicates that someone is about to make an announcement to the school.

"Good morning, students of Inkopolis Splataway School. I would like all to rise for the pledge of allegiance." The Principal, AKA Mr. Cuttlefish, speaks into the loudspeaker.

"All rise!" Ms. Danila exclaims and everyone does as she says. All except for one girl. This girl is very familiar to me. She is the short girl who tried to defend Maira and I on the bus from the other students last year. I'm surprised I even remembered that.

With our hands on our chests, we face the flag that represents Inkopolis and start to repeat after Mr. Cuttlefish "I pledge allegiance, to the flag for the well being of Inkopolis...-"

As we all recite the pledge of allegiance, Ms. Danila shoots a glare to this girl "Yara. On your feet." She growls at the girl who is named Yara but she doesn't respond. She's sitting there, protesting the teacher's orders. "I'm being generous with you, missy. This is your last chance to stand up and show some consideration to the land you live on."

This still doesn't make Yara get up from her seat. She's just focused on her work like she is ignoring the teacher on purpose.

"-... For liberty and justice for all. You may now sit down and carry on with your day. Thank you." Mr. Cuttlefish says before getting off of the speakers.

"You hear that, Stephanie?" Yara looks up from her paper and then to Ms. Danila, calling by her real name. Something no one would dare to do. "Liberty and justice for all? How come that's exactly something we don't have in this school? We are all under control by some old geezer who is keeping us all captive in here. I don't see any liberty in that. I don't think I'll stand up for a pledge that won't complete its promise."

Ms. Danila is left speechless but she doesn't have to say anything about what Yara just said to her. All she had to do was press a button on her desk to send this poor Inkling away.

My best guess is that this button works as an indicator to tell which classroom to go to. Though, I don't really know how you can tell which student to take. Two male Octolings walk into the room and head for Yara, forcing her off of her seat. "Take her to the holding room." One of them says as they begin to drag Yara out of the room while she yells out.

"Let me go!! I didn't do anything!" She flails around as he looks at Ms. Danila, who has a smile on her face while Yara is being sent away "I'll get you for this!!!" She threatens before the Octolings shut the door and everyone gets back to work as if nothing happened. I can still hear Yara's screams echoing through the classroom.

Watching her get taken away in such an aggressive matter makes me scared.. I hope that doesn't happen to me any time soon. Though, I don't think it will. I'm a good kid, right? I would never do anything to break the rules. I don't see myself getting sent away but what if someone tries to frame me and they actually DO send me-

"Hey." I then get a tap on my shoulder from behind. This obviously snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn around. "Can I borrow a pencil? I kinda held mine a little too hard.." The same friendly-looking boy that sits behind me asks.

"A.. A pencil..?" I ask shyly, staring into Mido's purple eyes as the pale sunlight coming through the classroom windows shines on them. His face is so.. addictive..

"Uhh... Yeah. Do you have one?"

"O-Oh! I do!"

"Quiet!" Ms. Danila says, looking up from her important teacher papers.

"Sorry.." I whisper and hand Mido one of my favorite pencils. It's probably the best pencil I have. It writes smoothly, feels comfortable in your hands and its even strawberry scented! I may be emotionless most of the time but that doesn't mean I can't have things that bring me comfort. I don't think anyone is going against it though.

"Thanks." Mido gives me a smile before taking my pencil. I'm too overwhelmed by him to even say 'You're welcome'.

I start to face my work again and see Tanya staring right at me in the process as she gnaws on her pencil, breaking it in half while it's in her mouth. I feel a little disturbed by her aggressive nature so I obviously just ignore it and get back to work. But not even 5 minutes pass and Ms. Danila already yells at Tanya for supposedly trying to get Mido's attention by blowing kisses at him. This didn't really bother me since Mido was just as confused as me. If anything, it was a little funny to see her get yelled at.

"For the last time, pay attention! Anyone who doesn't want to do so, can kindly join Yara in holding." Ms. Danila says before letting out a groan, holding her stomach as if she were in pain. She rushes out of the classroom and then heads to the bathroom to attend some "Lady business". Whatever that meant. These are Maira's words not mine.

Even with the teacher out of the classroom, no one dared to mess around. They all just did their work like they were told to do. But of course, Tanya saw this as an opportunity to harass me. She scribbles down a few things on a piece of paper. She then crumples it up and throws it to my head. I flinch and watch this paper land in front of me, opening it up only to see insults and drawings of me being splattered with a Splattershot. As much as I didn't really care for this girl or the words that come out of her mouth, seeing these words written on paper somehow hurt me. It's the moments like these that make me want to stay numb and illiterate like in Kindergarten. I turn to look at Tanya and all she does is quietly laugh at me with her friends.

I sigh and set this paper aside to show them to Maira when recess starts. Luckily, that didn't take long because as soon as Ms. Danila came back from the bathroom, the bell for recess rang. Everyone was pretty excited to head there since we recently got a new playground set. We all got ready to play on the swings and slides but all of that excitement died down when we found out that the playground was for display only so he had to resort to running around in the playground.

"Psh. I could care less. If anything, this new set looks more fragile than the old one." Maira scoffs as we both sit down on the light blue mulch by the spring riders that look like they're made of glass. Actually, most of the playground equipment looks like it's made of glass. "So what did you want to show me?" She asks as he places her skirt right under her bottom so that the mulch doesn't bother her as much.

"Well.. I got this thrown at me during class." I take the crumpled up piece of paper from earlier out of my pocket and hand it to Maira.

She skims through the words and pictures printed on the paper "Who wrote this?" She asks me with an angry frown on her face.

"That girl Tanya? I think she doesn't like me. But it's okay! I'll just ignore it-"

"No." Maira interrupts me "You can't just ignore that. These are threats! You can't brush it off! You have to fight back! Defend yourself and use your powers on her! We can do whatever we want with these powers, remember? Using them on her is a great move." Maira starts to use her powers to pick some flowers from a nearby bush, putting them together to make a little bracelet for herself.

"But, isn't that cheating?"

"Not in this case. She started this and you have to put an end to it. Show her that you're the boss."

"I-I don't know.. What if I go a little too-"

"Oh my goodness, she's trying to hurt you!"

The sudden change in Maira's tone towards me sort of upsets me. She's never talked to me in that tone before.. As I look down, I'm not so sure on what to do. I fidget with my fingers and play with the mulch, suddenly feeling a warming and friendly aura come near me.

"Hey!" I familiar voice tells me "Are you the one who let me borrow your pencil?" They ask and I look up from the ground, Mido's eyes lighting up as we both make eye contact. Oh, and that smile of his always makes me feel so.. safe...

"Um.. Yeah.. Yeah! I.. I am..." I then start to experience quick mood changes as I make direct eye contact with Mido once again "You don't have to give it back, you can keep it! If y-you'd like.."

"Really? Thanks!" The boy exclaims and then sits down in the middle, turning the group into a triangle "So what are we talking about?"

"Well, I'm trying to convince Octavio that he needs to learn how to fight back so he can defend himself from bad people." Maira immediately chimes in "Isn't that right?"

"M-Maira! This is supposed to be private!" I let out a whine "I'm sorry about her. She-"

"Self defense? You should definitely learn it. You get to learn so many cool things! My dad is going to sign me up for a self defense class soon!" Mido pretends to throw some punches, making his own sound effects. It looks like he'll enjoy participating in these classes.

I start to laugh and then throw fake punches with him as Maira watches the both of us have fun. She seems pretty happy that I'm happy. To make things less awkward for her, she decides to join in with us, already finding enjoyment in fighting invisible bad guys. I've gotta say, never thought I'd use my imagination such a way.

**Tanya**

"...And then I told her, you look hideous! Then she got all upset about it like she took it personally as if I was being rude to her."

"Oh, no she's definitely in the wrong there." "She's just mad that you look prettier than her." My group tells me. They always agree with me because they know that they'll be kicked out from the best group in the school if they don't.

"Right? So I told her that she's uninvited to my birthday party. It's what she ge-"

"Uhm.. Tanya?" Renity, one of the most worthless girls in the group taps me on my shoulder. I only let her stay in it because she follows my orders.

"Stop!" I smack her hand away "What did I say about touching me?"

"S-Sorry.. It's just that-"

"I don't want to hear it. Don't interrupt me." I make a gesture so that she backs up.

I watch her back up and I get back to talking, though none of these girls are listening to me whatsoever. If anything, Renity started whispering to other girls and then they all started to whisper to each other, looking at someone.

"And it's just- Are you guys even listening to me?" I cross my arms as I don't get the attention that I deserve. These girls don't say anything to me so I just look for myself and what I saw filled me with pure anger. What is that idiot doing with Mido?! **MY MIDO?!** I clench my fists and start to stomp my way towards this man stealer who thinks he can take my man

I was right about that freak faking being emotionless! He thinks he can get away with this doesn't he? Well, I'll show him. I'll show them all not to mess with me.

As I make my way towards this.. this... fucker, I watch Mido run away at the sight of me walking up to the boy next to him while a group of kids forms behind my group.

"Watch out!" The girl Octoling warns the boy but before he can do anything other than look in my direction, I slap him right in the face, making him fall to the ground. The girl tries to interfere but my friends know what to do. They hold her back and make her watch me beat her friend.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The kids chant as I get on top of him and slap his face left to right, feeling better already as I watch this boy get what he deserves. He tries to get up but I keep him in place, suddenly remembering something I had taken from my mom on this very day.

I reach down to my ankle and pull out a pocket knife from my sock, showing it off to him "This is what you get for trying to take my boyfriend from me." I growl at this ugly boy and take out the knife from where it is stored, placing the tip of the blade right on his left forearm "Let's see how you like this."

I adjust the tip of the blade to be higher up on his arm, giggling at this boy and start to slicing down on his skin, watching him bleed as he lets out a yelp. He shuts his eyes as he cries, giving him another cut right next to the first. I get up from him and turn to face the crowd "You see this?!" I point the knife at the kids "You'll be getting this inside of you if you try to take things from me!"

I look around to see the faces on these kids but they don't even seem to be paying attention to me! "Hey! I won the fight! Look at me!" I shout but they still won't budge. I turn around to see what these kids are all interested in.

What my eyes had laid upon when I look up gave me the same expression that the others had on their faces. What the heck is going on here?!

**Octavio**

Watching Tanya slap me, beat me and even cut me made me feel weak. It made me feel as if everyone was laughing at me and they were all against me. I cry silently and turn my head to the left, seeing Mido hiding behind a bush. He's specifically hiding from Tanya.

"Fight back!" Mido whispers from the bush "Defend yourself! You can do it!" He tries to motivate me.

I try to take his advice and think of what to do. But there's nothing I can do.. I can't get up. I can't speak. I can't move. All I can do is look directly at the blue sky as I lay on the mulch.

"Use your powers! Show her who's the boss!" Maira's head echoes through my head. I guess I have no other choice but to do so.. I shut my eyes and try to concentrate through my tears, opening them up again as I hear the sound cue in my head. I take fast and deep breaths, feeling myself levitating off of the ground, getting the attention of all the students but the student I'm focused on is Tanya.

"Hey! I won the fight! Look at me!" She shouts and then turns around while I look directly down at her, lifting her off of the ground as I start to heal the wounds that she gave me.

"Huh?? What are you doing?!" Tanya looks around in confusion but I don't say anything to her. I'm trying to process this new emotion I'm feeling. That emotion being anger.

I make her lift up her right hand and make her give herself a pretty hard slap on the face. I do the same with her left hand and tell her to stop hitting herself repeatedly.

"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself." I whisper, enjoying the feeling of revenge.

"S-Stop it!" She cries out but all I do is speed up the process of the slapping. This isn't wrong. She started it. She wanted to make me suffer and now I'm making her know what it's like to be in my shoes. "It hurts..! Let me you f-f-freak!"

Hearing Tanya cry louder suddenly makes me think about this whole situation. What am I doing to her..? The way her face looks makes me start to question the decision I've made to end up like this. I.. I just wanted to make her leave me alone... I didn't want to hurt anyone! I drop Tanya onto the ground while I descend slowly, the students looking at me. They.. They look terrified of me. They don't want to get near me.

All of this negative energy around me causes me to lose my color while I stare blankly at the girl who I had hurt. She wipes her tears and massages her face. Maira is finally released by the other girls who were holding her back but before she can run up to me, Ms. Danila blows her whistle as if she's just now noticing what has been going on in the playground.

"You two! Come with me now!" She shouts and points to Tanya and I. We follow her orders but she still storms up to us and grabs me by my big, round ears and Tanya by her long, pointy ones, dragging us inside of the school building. "Who would have thought that two young kids like you would start such a scandal during recess?!" Ms. Danila pushes us towards the seats in front of the Principal's office "Now sit down and have fun explaining the situation to Mr. Cuttlefish!" She turns around to walk back outside to take the other students back to the classroom.

Tanya and I take seats away from each other along with other students that have been sent to the Principal's office. I can feel Tanya's threatening aura from here. I take a look at her while she does her nails. I shouldn't have taken out my anger out on her like that. I don't think she deserved what I did to her. She's not a bad person, she just needs some proper guidance on how to be kinder to others.

I look away from her and then to the student next to me once her eyes land on me. Hey, it looks like Yara found a way out of holding. Though, she doesn't look very.. Normal. She seems to be dosing off with a smile on her face. "Are you okay." I ask, watching her head slowly turn towards me.

"Me? I'm great!" Yara starts to open up a small bottle with some medication inside of it "My day couldn't get any better!" She places some of the medication on the palm of her hand and swallows two pills at a time.

"I thought you were sent to holding."

"I was! But we were able to sort things out!" Her smile gets bigger and starts to look away from me. It looks like her eyes are about to shed some tears as if she were in pain. Why are they forcing medication on young kids? It doesn't seem very normal and Yara doesn't look like she needs any medications.

"Stop acting so weird you psycho!" Tanya yells at Yara but gets no response or reaction from her.

While we all wait even more, the big door to the Principal's office opens up "Octavio and Tanya. You're up next." Mr. Cuttlefish steps out of his office and opens up the door for the both of us to walk through.

"Have fun!" Yara waves at me and I wave back before Mr. Cuttlefish closes the door to his office.

"Do you know why the two of you are here?" The white-haired Inkling asks as he tries not to light a cigarette in front of us.

"Because this freak tried to kill me during recess!" Tanya talks right on top of me.

"He tried to kill you? How so?"

"With pleasure!" Tanya starts to rant about what had happened during recess, adding extra details to make me seem like a bad person. I don't try to object any of the lies that she's making up because I don't really care about anything at this point anymore. She's all beat up and I used my powers to hide the fact that she cut my skin open. So it's obvious that Mr. Cuttlefish is going to believe her more.

"Hm. That's very interesting." Mr. Cuttlefish nods "And you say you two were fighting over a boy at that time?"

"Yes! And he tried to take him from me!"

This statement obviously sparks Mr. Cuttlefish's interest. "Octavio." He turns to me "Is there a reason why you were with this boy by any chance?"

"I. I don't-" I try to speak but I am once again interrupted.

"Do you like him? Do you want him to like you back?"

"Can I just-"

"You do know that a man liking another man is a sin, right? It's clearly stated in the bible."

"I don't think it's fair that-"

"I don't want to hear it, young man. I served in the Great Turf War and I'd like you to show me some respect. You will be getting a write-up for physical assault and since there is no proof that Tanya had physically assaulted you, she'll be let off with a warning." Mr. Cuttlefish starts to dig through his filing cabinets, taking out a write-up slip. "You two are free to go."

Tanya and I start to leave the office and I am left speechless. I really don't know what to say about this Principal other than him being the most ignorant person I've met. It's as if he gets upset when he doesn't get things the way he wants. This is the huge problem with people that are assigned higher powers.

The two of us make it back into the classroom in one piece and just in time for nap time. All of the tables have been moved away from the middle of the classroom and have been replaced with small mattresses along with pillows and a blanket for everyone to use while they sleep. Maira has saved a spot for me that is directly right next to her. We both lay down on our mattresses and she sends me a telepathic message to my head.

"What happened? Did you tell the principal what she did?"

"No. I kept getting interrupted. And when he found out that we were fighting over Mido, he immediately took Tanya's side."

"That's horrible! Is there anything else that went on?"

"I did see that Yara girl from earlier. The school is forcing her to take medications."

"Medication? I don't think she's in need of them."

"It's exactly what I'm thinking. If anything, those things made her act like she was being controlled by someone-" The classroom door then opens, catching my attention along with Maira's. We both take a look at the door only to see Yara walk into the room with that same big smile on her face from earlier. It also looks like she's been crying through her smile. I can tell because of the way her cheeks are slightly burnt by her tears. That's what water does to us with we are exposed to it and if we are exposed to it for a longer time, we'll die. Water is lethal to us and tears are no exception.

"Ah, I see the school has taken the appropriate measures to get you to behave! How about you find a spot to take a nap?" Ms. Danila points to an empty mattress with her ruler.

"Yes, Ms. Danila!" Yara says enthusiastically and walks towards the mattress she was assignment.

"Hm. I see that they gave her the stronger dosage." The teacher mumbles to herself.

"See what I'm telling you? And in her hand is the bottle full of medication." I make Maira look through my eyes, looking at the said bottle.

Maira blinks repeatedly to get out of my eyes once she's able to identify the bottle "This school is worse than I thought.. We need to do something about this place."

"But what? We barely know anything about this place. All we know is that this place is hurting it's students at a very young age." I yawn, getting pretty tired. Using that much of my power really drained me.

"Then I guess we'll just have to keep going here until we're smart enough to come up with a plan. We can't just tell the people outside of this school because something is preventing us from saying anything bad about this school."

"Really? I've never really noticed that."

"Have you never talked about your school days with you mom?"

"My mom?" I repeat. I barely get to talk about anything with my mom because she's either blacked out or makes it about her. "No. She's.. Always very busy and she barely has time for things like that."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Doesn't she have any days off?"

"No. We should.. Probably go to sleep. We don't want to catch Ms. Danila's attention." I lay on my side, trying to go to sleep as soon as possible. I hate talking about my mother because it reminds me of the bad things she's done to me. And not to mention the even worse things she's done to my father. But he definitely deserved what she did to him. I'm not saying that she's in the right in this situation. She could've been more reasonable with him.

Enough of her, though. Maira and I should really come up with a plan to fix or even get rid of this place. We can't permit things like this to happen. But for now.. I should really nap. There's still a long day ahead of me and an even longer year for me to try to get through.


	4. Second Grade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight trigger warning at the beginning of chapter. It may contain verbal and possibly physical ab*se. You won't really miss anything super important so an indication with bold text will be given when it's safe to read.

**Octavio**

You know, I just can't take it anymore. I'm at the point where I have to tell myself that enough is enough. I can't keep living like this. If I don't do anything about it, I'll probably end it all. So I guess this is it, I'm ordering myself a new uniform. I can't stand how trapped my other uniform makes my body feel and not to mention that it's very itchy on me. Therefore, I'm going to try the girls uniform. I've been told by Maira that it's very comfortable and it gives you a nice breeze sometimes but it's highly recommended that I wear stockings in cold weather and that's exactly what I did. While I was at it, I got some supplies to dye my uniform a slightly darker pink and even embroidered some little purple squids on the shoulders. I think we all know who that is refencing. Overall, I like the way my new uniform feels on my body. This was definitely the right move for me. The only thing I was worried about was how my mother was going to react to me wearing such a feminine uniform. But I remembered that she's always out cold when I get ready for school.

I place some sea butterflies inside of the bowl of my comforting sea angels before grabbing my backpack and heading out into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast like I always do. On my way to the kitchen, I feel the horrible wrath of my Mother wrap around my right ankle. She's holding me right in my place by grabbing me and I feel threatened out of instinct.

My Mother lets out a slightly painful groan "Octavio? Is that.. you?" She rotates her head upwards and rubs her eyes, trying to see what on Earth I am wearing "Finally decided to.. Meet me... in person." The slight smile started to fade from her face slowly "What. Are you. Wearing." She then starts to get on her feet, using the armrest of a nearby couch to hold her up.

"My uniform." I reply, secretly scared of what she might do "I got a new one because it made me uncomfortable."

"And you got a dress." She stares at me angrily before belching inside her mouth "Listen here. I know you and I know for a fact that you aren't a fucking pansy. I don't-"

"You don't know me whatsoever." I interrupt her "You've barely even bothered to get to know me ever since you turned to being an alcoholic."

"Don't you dare talk to your mom that way, mister." She grips my wrist and raises it up high, making me stand on my tippy toes. "You don't want to end up like your dad, do you? That cheating son of a bitch. He never even loved me, Octavio! He just made it seem like it just so he could sleep with other women!" My Mother tries to hold back her tears while speaking "He thought that he was slick but I knew all along!" She then takes a look at me and tries to calm down "But you know what? It's fine.. No, really. It's fine. I forgive you. I forgive every single one of you every night." She goes to lower my arm, feeling relieved that she is deciding to not do anything to me. I take a good look at her and she does the same to me before frowning even more "But, where's my apology? Huh?!" She raises my arm again in a violent matter, almost taking it out of its socket "I forgive every one of you but do I ever get an apology in return?! Where's my happy ending??" She's starting to breathe heavily before letting out tears. She raises her other arm and this is where everything starts to feel familiar again.. Every time she raises her arm at me, I get a flashback to every time she's hurt me.

I flinch and shut my eyes, getting ready to take the strike that she's going to give me "Use your powers against her." A voice of a thousand angels speaks to me "Stop being her personal punching bag. Make her pass out." She tells me and that's what I try to do. I try not to focus on the fact that my own Mother is about to hurt me again. I keep my eyes shut and open them once I am given the sound cue, staring right at her eyes to control her body to shut down.

Her grip on my wrist starts to loosen and next thing you know, she is on the floor once again. I crouch down by her and apologize to her "I am sorry. I did what I had to do. Maybe one day, you'll see things through my eyes." I grab a blanket out of thin air and drape it over her body.

~~~~

**Aight the bad part is now over, it's safe to read**

~~~~

I head out of the door as quick as I can and forget to grab something to eat. I didn't care about food at the moment. All I wanted to do is leave this place and head to a place that... Isn't any better... It's fine, it'll be fine. At least none of the people at school won't get physical with me. I meet up with Maira at the bus stop and I am just so happy to see her. I go to start a conversation with my very best friend but she immediately attacks me with a complement.

"Before you say anything, you look amazing in your new uniform!" Maira lightly claps for me with a big smile on her face.

I give her a small smile "I even dyed it a slightly darker pink to fit my ink color a little more." My smile starts to grow bigger when I start to talk about the purple squids on my shoulders "And I even added some small squids on the side because I thought that they might look cute on me!" I take a second look at Maira and fidget with my fingers nervously "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You just looked so happy when you were talking about the squids on your shoulders. And I think that anyone who knows you like I do would know that those little squids obviously represent Mido. This is like your heart telling you that you need to be with him! You'll have to be more than just friends! You two need to be best friends!"

"Best friends? I don't know, Maira.. Doesn't that seem like a little too much?"

"It's not, trust me. And besides, it'd be really cool to have someone else in the group!" She then gasps "What if he's one of us too? Like he has all of these powers that we were born with?"

"Now that's going a bit over the top. It'll probably take ages to find someone else like us. As much as I want to believe it, there's probably no one else like us in this school." I lean to the right to see the bus starting to drive up to our stop "I'll bet you five dollars if you can find someone at our school with powers like ours."

"Deal! I'll give you five dollars if I can't find anyone at our school that's like us. I have until the very end of our last grade."

"Sounds fair enough for me." I then turn to face the bus with Maira and inside of the bus we go to start another week of second grade at Inkopolis Splataway School.

This year has been good so far. I've been on a streak of not being harassed as much as before. But with the way that my Mother reacted to my new uniform makes me think that the others students might do the same and gosh darn it was I right. They all watched me from their seats to get a good look at me. Every single one of them. I could hear them whispering to one another and it really drained me from my color in an instant. That's probably a new record for now short I've kept my humanity.

When Maira and I both get in our seats, Maira rubs my back to comfort me "Just ignore them. You'll be okay. Their opinions don't matter." She whispers to me. "Are you hungry? You look a little hungry. I might have some kelp chips in my bag." She goes through her bag and hands me a small bag of unsalted kelp chips. "And while you munch on those, you should deafen yourself just so that you don't have to deal with these bullies."

I take her advice and deafen myself quickly before opening up the bag and stuffing my mouth with the chips that Maira gave me. Maybe eating might be my new coping mechanism as I step into a world of flavors that makes me forget about being made fun of for wearing something that's feminine. Stuffing my face might also help me gain some weight since I am a little underweight and that's also something that people have made fun of me for.

I continue to scarf down the chips while still being deafened, not realizing that we reached the last stop of the morning: Mido's stop. He witnessed me eat like a pig eating its slop in the morning but it seemed like he was more interested in my hot pink dress.

I looked up at him and he gave me a smile with what I assumed were the words "You look nice!" I added the exclamation point because I feel like he'd say it in a way that actually shows his empathy. I see Mido as a really nice person.. Nothing can tell me otherwise.

When I read Mido's lips and deciphered his message, I blinked in confusion. Not sure if he actually meant it but it still brought a smile to my face as I wiped my mouth free of crumbs. It's almost as if he knew that I was feeling down and gave me a compliment to try and make me feel better. I un-deafen myself and almost regret it when I hear the sound of the other students messing around. I turn to Maira and she has the same excited look as I do.

"You heard him, right?" Asked Maira.

"Not really but I did read his lips and did he say-"

"Of course he did! He actually likes your new uniform!"

"What if he said it out of pity? He probably saw me looking all sad while I ate and just complimented me to make me feel better."

"Don't overlook these things, Octavio. It's obvious that he meant it. Here's my advice to you for today. Try to have a more positive mindset. Even when something bad is going on, there might be something positive to look into. If you want to be friends with that boy, you need a good mindset. You can't just always think that he's doing things with you because he feels bad. It's just not healthy."

"Wow. That's- I don't even know how to reply. Do you really think that I could use a more positive outlook on things?"

"Definitely. A little bit of the bright side wouldn't hurt. Just give it a try." Maira says before turning to the window, ending the conversation and giving me time to think of what she told me. A little bit of a positive mindset huh. It shouldn't be that bad.

Putting that behind me for now, I finish up the last bit of my chips and hold onto the empty bag so that I can dispose of it properly. Like always, Maira and I are the last ones to leave the bus but this time, an Inkling about my height with the iconic 'hippie' hairstyle let us go in front of her. Oh.. That's Yara. How could I forget about her? Anyway, Before I could walk in front of her, she was pushed forward by Tanya forcefully.

"Move it!" She says while holding Mido's wrist tightly to make sure that he doesn't leave her sight. I don't think that's how being friends works.

Leaving the bus, I throw my chip bag inside of a round bucket that is at the front of the bus where we can (You're going to be surprised, just you wait) throw away our garbage.

So far, one of the few things that helped me through this school year is the teacher I've been assigned this year. His name is Mr. Annéh Mo Ni which is funny because he's a sea sponge and not a sea anemone. And just like us, he evolved to be a little more human. He's also probably the only teacher that isn't messed up like the other teachers in the school along with the two teachers I've had in the past years. He inspires us to be our most authentic selves and it's like his classroom is the only safe space in this whole establishment. Today however, he seemed a little nervous and he just assigned us work as soon as we got to the classroom. He usually likes to talk with us before we actually get to doing anything school related.

When the loudspeaker went off, everyone went silent to hear the announcement. "Mr. Annéh, please report to my office. Now." Mr. Cuttlefish says before stating another announcement "And since I'm on here at the momen, Octavio Oᓵℸ ̣ 𝙹ꖎ╎リ⊣ please come to my office as well."

I look at Maira worriedly and she looks back. We both know where this might lead to. Mr. Annéh and I both get up from our seats and head on out of the classroom, telling our drama teacher to watch over the students while he and I walk to the Principal's office, both of us full of fear. When we get there, Mr. Annéh walks into the office while I take a seat by the outside of Mr. Cuttlefish's door with an Inkling girl sitting next to me.

I start up a conversation with her and it goes as follows "What are you in here for?" I turn to the girl with her hair brushed to her left which I've seen many times around the school.

"Apparently, it's because of my hair." She looks in my direction and turns her body towards me "I don't really know anything else. What about you?"

"I think it's pretty obvious." I point to my uniform "You know, this is what I don't like about this school. They say that they'll let us express ourselves but make us follow really strict guidelines on how we should look or act."

"Yeah.. But what can we do about it? We're just second graders."

"I'm with you on that." We both sigh and get back to how we were before. The girl looking out of the windows and I'm just staring into outer space with nothing else to do. I know I shouldn't really be doing this but... Maybe I should just get into Mr. Annéh's eyes and see what's going on inside of the office. He's a good man and I hate to invade on privacy but just one peek wouldn't really hurt. I want to know what's got him so worked up.

Like always, I close my eyes and concentrate to get these powers flowing. When I hear my sound cue, I open my eyes up to show my completely black sclerae and pupils only to close them again and concentrating even more to locate where Mr. Annéh's mind is.

Upon re-opening my eyes, I see that I'm inside of the Principal's office. More specifically, I'm inside the Principal's office through Mr. Annéh's eyes if that makes any sense. I can't really control anything which is something I'll have to get used to. This obviously includes his eyes. I want to take a better look at the office but his eyes don't really seem to budge.

Mr. Annéh looks up from his lap while he fidgeted with his hands nervously to respectfully look at Mr. Cuttlefish with Ms. Danila standing next to him? What is she doing in the office?

"So it has come to my attention that you are inspiring students in the school to break certain guidelines." Mr. Cuttlefish straightens some papers on his desk while Ms. Danila stirs his coffee for him.

"It's not really making them break certain guidelines. Listen-" Mr. Annéh tries to explain but to no one's surprise, he is interrupted.

"I don't want to hear it. Just because we say that we let students express themselves around the school, doesn't mean we should actually do it."

"Then that's just false advertising. This place could really use some freedom and by teaching the students to find themselves/be their most authentic selves, the place would be a million times better!"

"No, no, no. This is a place of learning, Mr. Annéh! We need to teach them to be strict! Not teach them sinful ways like telling them that a man can love another man!"

"Or that someone can wear clothing of the opposite gender. Everything has an assigned gender and that's the way it should be." Ms. Danila chimes in.

"But if you wou-"

"That is enough!" Mr. Cuttlefish speaks over Mr. Annéh "I don't want to hear another peep about this! Either you stop this ridiculous behavior or you can walk right out of this establishment and lose the only job that'll help you stay on your feet! Do you understand?"

Mr. Annéh lets out a defeated sigh "...Yes..."

"Good. Now bring in Octavio. I need to have a word with him too."

I quickly remove myself from Mr. Annéh's eyes and I felt pretty bad for the poor sea sponge. He's trying to make this horrible place into a safe space for kids where they can learn about themselves along with normal school subjects. Mr. Cuttlefish is an unfair man.

I see Mr. Annéh walk out of the office with a slight frown on his face "Octavio, Mr. Cuttlefish would like to see you." He says and we both hear the other girl sigh.

"What's the matter?" I ask her.

"I'm supposed to go next. I've been here forever now. It's almost as if they put the guys first in here. I hate this dumb place." She huffs.

Mr. Annéh exhales sharply out of his nose "Me too." He says before walking away. His happiness has definitely been crushed. I feel even worse for this teacher.

Once again, the girl looks out of the windows and I walk inside of the office, already feeling anger just by being in here. I walk up to Mr. Cuttlefish's desk and sit on the chair that is right in front of it.

"Looking awfully pale. And girly." Ms. Danila insults me but all I do is stare at her.

"I'm surprised to see you inside my office again, Octavio. Usually after the first time students get sent here, they try to avoid getting sent here a second time." Mr. Cuttlefish takes a sip from his coffee "Do you know why you're here?"

I don't answer. I refuse to waste any oxygen on this man.

"You are being spoken to." Ms. Danila crosses her arms. "Answer the question." That saying brings be back to last year where Yara got taken away for not standing up for the pledge of allegiance.

"Don't pressure him. Let me do the speaking. You'll get nowhere like that." Mr. Cuttlefish clears this throat "You were sent down here because you're breaking the school's dress code. It is clearly stated that students are to wear their gender assigned uniforms. That is to say, you aren't doing as told. May I ask why you're wearing the girl's uniform in the first place?"

"This uniform just feels a little more comfortable on me. I don't know why we can't wear the uniform type that makes us more comfortable."

"Because a man wearing a dress isn't right. The same thing goes with a woman wearing manly clothing."

"But, that's just not right. You are creating stereotypes that will make people insecure about who they are."

"I'm surprised you even know what some of those words mean." Ms. Danila chimes in.

"Because you're breaking the school's dress code, we'll have to send a notice home saying that you'll have to change back to your other uniform." Mr. Cuttlefish takes out a sticky note from one of his drawers and writes something down on it "Please give this to your parent/guardian to let them know about what's going on."

"But, I can't wear my other uniform. My body just feels too trapped inside of it." I take the note and crumble it up under his desk so he doesn't suspect anything.

"I don't care if your body feels trapped. You have to respect the dress code." He says. Hearing him say that he doesn't care about how I feel is really starting to get to me.

"Why can't you just be a little more considerate of others? Just because it doesn't happen to you, doesn't mean you should ignore it." I start to lean in towards Mr. Cuttlefish's desk a bit, getting slightly agitated.

"I don't have to be considerate of anything other than keeping you kids in order. And right now, you aren't in order which means that you'll have to be sent to the holding room with two days of suspension afterwards."

"It's because they pay you to hurt us, right?!" I suddenly yell and stand up from my seat, slamming the palms of my hands on Cuttlefish's desk "That's all you care about! If I were in here bleeding, you'd throw me in a ditch and let me die! You are such a horrible person! All you want is cash and hype! What good will that do to you?!" He's been making me build up anger for too long. He's the only person in here that fills me with anger whenever I see him. This isn't normal for me to do. I would never yell at someone like this. Not even my own Mother.

Feeling threatened, Ms. Danila presses a button on Mr. Cuttlefish's desk and calls in the two Octolings responsible for taking students down to the holding room. They both grab me by my arms and start to take me out of the office. I start to struggle and flail, trying to fight the way stronger men but obviously, my 2nd grader body is nothing compared to an adult.

"L-Let me go!" I stutter and watch Mr. Cuttlefish and Ms. Danila get further away. I start to get tired of flailing already and try to look for something to at least help me get revenge on this demon we call a Principal. I watch Mr. Cuttlefish reach for his coffee mug and that immediately gives me an idea. The thing is, do I really have the heart to actually do it? I really don't like this man but thinking of actually doing something like what I'm thinking about might be a bit too much. But it's to teach him a lesson, Octavio. Show him what you're capable of.

**Ms. Danila**

Seeing a kid get taken away to the holding room is one of my most favorite feelings. These little brats are nothing but full of nonsense. "You did the right thing, Craig." I smile at Craig and stroke his bushy beard.

"You know me, Jen. I'm just doing what I believe is right!" Craig grabs a spoon and stirs his coffee a bit as he adds a bit more of sugar.

"I know but, you do it so well.." I give this man a kiss on his cheek while he drinks his coffee, watching his face turn a light red.

"It's all a part of God's plan." He kisses me back on my cheek with his beard tickling me a bit. He then goes to take out some papers that he has to finish up but he just stares at them. He looks a little uneasy..

"Craig, are you okay?" I ask him and he doesn't respond. His eyes widening as his hands wrap around his throat, suddenly throwing a coughing fit "C-Craig?!" I gasp and start to hit the palm of my hand against his back repeatedly, trying to get whatever he has out of his throat but it seems like it's no use. I tear up and press the button on his desk to call for help.

When I see the same two Octolings that took the other brat away earlier, I wipe my tears from my old lady skin. They head on over to Craig and hover over him, examining him.

"Idiots! Don't just stare at him! Save him!" I yell, wanting to cry more as I see him gasp for air. He's starting to look really sick.

The two men look at me and the taller one asks "He seemed to have been choking on something. Is there anything you suspect?"

"How am I supposed to know! Uhh, maybe his coffee? He was drinking that before he got sick?"

The shorter man grabs the coffee mug and the first thing he does is waft the smell of the coffee. "He wasn't choking on his coffee. He was poisoned by it. Someone added something to this coffee."

"Is there any way you can remove it from his body?!"

The taller man nods and gets a syringe from the belt around his waist. He lifts up Craig's long sleeve to the near top of his shoulder and keeps it in place while he pushes the needle inside of his upper arm, injecting some sort of liquid into him and pulling it out once the liquid has been completely injected inside his body. Craig remains immobile with the back of his head resting on the headrest.

I hold Craig's hand and quietly pray as I try to hold back tears. I let out an audible gasp when I see him moving and breathing again. He coughs and I hug him tightly "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" I peck his cheek repeatedly.

"Now, we do need to advise you that he might be a little weak for an indefinite amount of time since the poison is still running through his body with the antidote." The tall man pulls out a zip-lock bag from his pocket to put the syringe inside of it and get rid of it properly "Now with that being said, get rid of that coffee. We don't want this to happen again." He says and they both start to walk out of the room before someone else steps in.

"Uh, hello? I was told to come down here?" The girl with the masculine looking hair peeks her head in the office. I immediately forgot her name as soon as she graduated from my class.

"Get back to class!" I shout before focusing back to Craig "Oh, do you need anything? Water perhaps?" I ask in a much more sweeter tone.

"I need some fresh air. The air in here isn't doing it for me.." He requests and I help him off his chair.

"A walk through the courtyard it is then."

**TIMESKIP (Two days later)**

**Maira**

Going to school without Octavio for two days was a little strange. I didn't get to talk to anyone verbally or telepathically. I tried to talk to Octavio through our heads while he was home and I was in class but he just didn't want to talk at all. I tried to visit him but I didn't get any answer when I knocked on the door. The house looked pretty empty on the inside. I know Octavio more than anyone else does and this type of behavior from him only means one thing. He's reflecting on something he did which is something he barely ever does because he is a good octopus and always steers away from trouble. Well, today is probably the day that I get a word out of him since I really wasn't able to get anything out of him after he came back from the Principal's office. He did keep the talking pretty brief. At the bus stop, he just greeted me and remained quiet. I asked him why he was still wearing the girls uniform and that he could possibly get into more trouble and all he told me was that he was able to make an illusion to make it look like he's wearing his other uniform but only to certain amount of people to lower the harassment and I'm one of the people that hasn't been hit by the illusion which means that I see him with his dress on at all times and the others see him with his other uniform. Mido is probably another person that can see him with his dress on. After that, he continued to stay quiet. In the bus, he completely ignored the harassment from his peers and just took a nap on the bus. He didn't even wake up to see Mido! Now that's really saying something..

During recess however, he did act more lively around Mido so that he probably doesn't suspect anything so that shows me that he doesn't want Mido to get involved in whatever Octavio has going on in his head at the moment. At lunch, he seemed to have been stuffing his face with the food they had to offer today. Usually, he packs his own lunch which, again is very off to me. He's never eaten so much before..

"Maira." He finally calls for me while looking down at his empty food tray.

"Yes?" I immediately respond and turn towards him, relieved to hear a word from him for the first time today.

"I've been reflecting a bit on what happened 2 days ago before I got suspended and it made me wonder."

"What is it?"

Octavio looks up from his tray to look at me "Is this place making me a violent person?"

"What's making you think that?" I raise an eyebrow. I'm concerned by this because he never sees himself as a violent person at all. He doesn't really consider himself as anything as a matter of fact!

"With what happened with Tanya and I on the playground and what happened in the Principal's office, I'm convinced that this school is turning me into a really bad person."

"What happened in the Principal's office?" I ask, a little intrigued to find out.

"I.. I yelled at him for making me change my uniform and when I was being taken away, I poisoned his coffee. I pretty much wished death upon him." He sighs and leans against me "What's wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you, Octavio. They are just testing you and you're just trying to defend yourself." Then something comes to my mind. This'll definitely help Octavio "... Sort of like Mido encouraged you do to." I feel his arms tighten around mine a little more. He then looks at me with a little hope in his eyes "Ahh, see? It is because of him!" I chuckle "I knew that if I told you it was from anyone else, you wouldn't budge"

"So, you were just saying that to get a reaction out of me." The hope starts to drain from his eyes.

"No! Not at all! Just think about it. I was trying to encourage you to fight back and all you did was tell me that you were going to ignore it. When Mido came in to encourage you, you immediately took it into consideration."

"I'm sorry for that. It's just that when someone in this place that wasn't you showed me something other than hatred towards me, I felt obligated to listen to them. My brain and heart were both telling me that this is a person I don't want to lose."

"It's alright. I forgive you. It was probably a breath of fresh air when someone didn't see you as a freak when they first saw you."

"You're right on that. He brought me life along with that breath of fresh air. It was incredible."

"I'm glad to hear it." I scratch Octavio's hair "Hey, do you want to come over to my house and have a play date after school? I'll ask my parents if they can make that dinner you like."

"I'd love to. I'm not so sure about that dinner though. I'm still pretty full from all of this food." He sits up and stretches a bit.

"Alright then, that's up to you." We both then get up to get rid of our lunch trays "I also heard that my Dad is going to try a new dessert recipe!"

**Mido**

There goes Octavio again walking past me with a slight glance at me. I don't know why but I always really like the feeling that he gives off. I also can't stop thinking about that time that he made Tanya slap herself! It was hilarious!

"Are you still looking at that dude again?" David, my closest friends asks. He sadly doesn't have any cool powers like I do but that's okay. Just because we have slight differences doesn't mean we can't hang out. It's something that this place doesn't seem to grasp. Tanya likes to be with me but still sits with her friend group because she doesn't consider me to be "cool" yet. That's a little messed up of her to say.

"Yeah. I just like him! He's really cool!" I turn to David, who seems to be struggling with peeling his orange.

"But you can do those things too so it makes those things that he does a little less interesting. Why don't you focus more on girls? Like his friend? She seems fine." He turns to Octavio's friend and eyeballs her for a bit before going back to his orange "A little help please?"

I turn my powers on and lift the orange with my finger using telekinetic powers "I tried but right now, I don't really see any girls that I like. And besides, Octavio just stands out from the crowd a lot. He's like nobody else in here." I start to peel the orange for David and divide it into 10 equal parts for him, handing it back.

"Do whatever you like I guess. As long as you don't put him in front of me. Remember, we are a team and we promised to tackle anything that comes at us together."

"I would never forget that! Look, if I ever do let that happen, you get to pinch me as hard as you can."

"You got yourself a deal." David shakes my hand, indicating that we both made a promise that must be kept no matter how long it's been. "Now let's clean up before the other students start to rush to the trash bins."

"For such a high budget school, you'd think that they would have more than one trash bin in the cafeteria." We both start to leave out seats to throw away our garbage. We got to talk to Octavio and Maira on the way back to our seats and I might have to apply the deal to David as well because he seems really interested in Maira. Maira didn't feel the same but she did look like she was willing to make it work.

Octavio, on the other hand, seemed really interested in talking to me. He told me all about his dress and I pointed out that the purple squids on his shoulders kinda remind me of myself, making him immediately panic. He said that he was spaced out when he was embroidering them on and that he didn't really take the color of the squids into consideration. I told him that it was okay and that they really complemented the uniform. I also offered to be friends with him but he just remained speechless. He turned to Maira for some help but she was too focused on David. He then grabbed her and they both went back to their seats. It made me a little confused and he's probably trying to tell me that he doesn't really want to be friends.. You know what? It's fine. I can probably push past this. Maybe..


End file.
